1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to storage devices, specifically to such a device designed for use with and attached to a sleeping cot or portable bed with a frame. Henceforth both will be referred to simply as a xe2x80x9csleeping cotxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9ccot.xe2x80x9d
2. Description of Prior Art
At home or other permanent facility, storage of articles within easy reach of a sleeping bed is an important aspect of daily life many people take for granted. For obvious reasons, most people prefer to have ready access to articles such as eyeglasses, flashlights, wallets, beverages, medicines, books, magazines, clocks, lights, radios, jewelry, keys, telephones, pagers, small personal defense weapons, and a variety of other articles while in bed. Articles of furniture such as nightstands or storage bed headboards usually provide bedside storage of such articles in the home or other permanent facility. Because they are more closely associated with the concept of the present invention, examples of prior-art storage bed headboards follow:
Kemp, III, et al., U.S. Pat, No. D273,260 discloses a combined headboard and hutch unit
Lenger, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. D266,806 discloses a bed headboard or similar article
Keller, U.S. Pat. No. D262,332 discloses a headboard
Alternative methods of bedside storage are also found in the prior art. The following patents are representative:
Mack, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,972 discloses an assisted sundries caddy bed based holding system
Ritchie, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,651,152 discloses a storage organizer for hospital bed
Dreyer Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,173 discloses a bedstead storage box
Winckler U.S. Pat. No. 4,831,673 discloses an apparatus for holding articles to a bed
Hill U.S. Pat. No. D358,284 discloses a bed storage compartment
Riehl U.S. Pat. No. 4,129,909 discloses abed storage article
Wallace U.S. Pat. No. 4,071,258 discloses a mobile under-bed storage container
These devices may fulfill their respective objectives of bedside storage of articles in a bed-based sleeping environment such as that found in most homes, lodging facilities, and medical treatment facilities. They do not however, address a similar need in a cot-based sleeping environment such as that found where people are temporarily quartered under field conditions. In environments like this, bedside storage takes on even greater importance.
In an environment where people are quartered under field conditions such as hunting, fishing, camping, military bivouac, or temporary emergency sheltering, personal comfort issues figure prominently in the overall quality of the experience. Important among these issues are sleeping conditions and personal storage space immediately adjacent the sleeping area. Typically, such environments are characterized by cramped sleeping quarters inside a shelter such as a tent, cabin, or crowded emergency shelter facility where sleeping conditions are marginal and personal space is extremely limited.
To improve sleeping conditions in such environments many private individuals, emergency management authorities, and the military have taken to employing sleeping cots, representative of which is the general type shown in prior-art FIG. 5 of the drawings annexed herein. Although made of lightweight materials such as aluminum, wood, and composite materials, these cots are sturdy enough to support most adults and break down into compact packages for easy transport and storage making them ideally suited for the aforementioned applications.
A beneficial by-product of the use of these cots is the area directly beneath the cot itself, henceforth xe2x80x9cunderspace,xe2x80x9d which provides a relatively large amount of space suitable for storing many miscellaneous articles such as luggage and articles of clothing. However, this underspace does not lend itself to the storage of certain types of articles, such as those that are fragile, valuable, and which, especially in a cot-based sleeping environment under field conditions, must be kept readily accessible. Among others, these articles may include eyeglasses, flashlights, wallets, money clips, beverages, medicines, toiletries, books, magazines, clocks, lights, radios, jewelry, keys, cellular phones, cameras, pagers, and, in some cases, small personal defense weapons.
Few examples of devices specifically designed to provide storage of articles on a sleeping cot are known in the prior art. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,148,459 and 6,233,765 both entitled xe2x80x9cOrganizerxe2x80x9d to Verhulst disclose flexible fabric organizers for draping over the side of a cot and provide for storage of articles through the use of pouches, pockets, shelves, sleeves, and beverage containers. Although capable of storing certain articles on cots, these organizers do not lend themselves to storage of fragile or valuable articles because they store articles in either an exposed or unsecured manner in fabric or fabric mesh pockets. Stored articles can thus be easily stolen or damaged by accidental impact with people or objects moving or being moved about cramped sleeping quarters. Also, the devices themselves may interfere with the fluid mounting and dismounting of the cot""s sleeping surface. Most importantly however, their low-slung hanging position along the entire length of the cot renders the cot""s valuable underspace storage area virtually inaccessible from the side of the cot on which the organizers hang. This may necessitate positioning the cot away from the wall of a tent, where cots are normally located, to facilitate access to its underspace from the side opposite that on which the organizer is hung. This would further reduce the already limited overall space found in most camping, bivouac, and sheltering situations.
Another example of prior art is U.S. Pat. No. 6,173,463 entitled xe2x80x9cCot Accessoryxe2x80x9d to Callahan. This device comprises two vertical poles that are attached to opposite corners of one end of a sleeping cot by hook and loop straps. The upper ends of the vertical poles rise high above the cot and are connected and stabilized by a horizontal pole. Hooks spaced intermittently on the vertical poles allow for storage by hanging of slinged rifles, backpacks, articles of clothing, and other hangable accoutrements. This device also does not lend itself to storage of certain articles because it is limited by design to storing only those articles that may be hung on a hook in an exposed position where they can be easily stolen or damaged. Moreover, because of its height, use of this device is limited to areas with considerable headroom thereby precluding its use within smaller and sharply sloping shelters such as many camping tents. Use of this device therefore may necessitate positioning the cot away from the wall of a tent, where cots are normally located, to accommodate its additional height. This would further reduce the already limited overall space found in most camping, bivouac, and sheltering situations.
The utility of these devices is further limited in that they can function as storage devices only in a static state and must first be emptied of articles before they can be moved. They can not be used to transport articles to and from a cot-based sleeping environment and therefore lack true functional portability.
Another example of devices designed to provide storage of articles on a sleeping cot is U.S. Pat. No. 6,347,419 entitled xe2x80x9cClamp-On Portable Storage Endboard for a Sleeping Cotxe2x80x9d to present applicant. Although the endboard provides storage of articles on a sleeping cot, it differs from the present invention in certain aspects which may render it undesirable under certain circumstances. First, the endboard is mounted atop the cot vice underneath it as is the present invention and therefore occupies a small portion of the cot""s sleeping surface. As a result, use of the endboard in its preferred embodiment as a storage headboard may cause the feet of a very tall occupant to hang over the opposite end of the cot. To prevent this, the amount of sleeping surface taken up by the endboard must be minimized necessitating a relatively narrow width. This restricts the number and size of articles that may be stored therein. And although the endboard has a low profile, it is still somewhat exposed in its position atop a sleeping cot. It is therefore subject to damage by collision with people or objects moving or being moved about in typically cramped sleeping quarters such as tents, cabins, and crowded emergency shelters.
These devices evidence the need for one that will protectively store on a sleeping cot articles that are fragile, valuable, and of potentially immediate need in a cot-based sleeping environment. And do so without reducing the overall space within a shelter and without hampering access to the cot""s sleeping surface or its underspace storage area.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a storage locker for a sleeping cot comprises a rigid container of predetermined height, length, width, and cross-sectional shape, with a top, a bottom, a front, a back, a right end, and a left end. A recessed handle assembly of conventional design is centrally disposed to its top. Vertical and horizontal partitions within the container bound storage drawers and both open-face and closed-face storage compartments. Low retaining walls front the open-face storage compartments and access doors front the closed-face storage compartments. Drawers and access doors are locked closed by conventional cam-locks. Apertures disposed to each end of the container facilitate optional attachment of a variety of prior-art foldable beverage container holders through the use of a variety of prior-art fasteners to include variable length push fasteners. Apertures and housings in the top of the container facilitate its demountable attachment to a variety of sleeping cots through the use of conventional u-bolt assemblies. The u-bolt assemblies clamp the container to the frame of the sleeping cot such that it cannot be removed once the storage compartment access doors are closed and locked thus protecting the articles stored therein from damage or theft.
Thus has been broadly outlined the more important features of the storage locker of the present invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and its contribution to the field better appreciated. There are other features of the locker that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. Thus before explaining the preferred embodiment of the locker in detail, it is to be understood that it is not limited in its application to the details of its construction or arrangements of its components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The locker is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways.
Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based may be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods, and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the locker. It is important therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions in so far as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of my locker. Further, the purpose of the abstract is to enable U.S. Patent and Trademark Office personnel, engineers, practitioners in the art, and the general public, to quickly determine the essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The abstract is neither intended to define the invention or limit its scope in any way.
Accordingly, besides those described above, several additional objects and advantages of my locker are:
(a) to provide a storage locker that will store articles that are fragile, valuable, or of potentially immediate need in cot-based sleeping environments such as hunting, fishing, camping, military bivouac, and emergency sheltering; and
(b) to provide a storage locker that can be quickly, easily, and securely mounted to a cot through the use of conventional u-bolt assemblies; and
(c) to provide a storage locker mounted to a cot such that it cannot be removed when its storage compartment access doors are closed and locked without damage to the locker or the cot; and
(d) to provide a storage locker that will allow access to the storage space beneath a cot; and
(e) to provide a storage locker that will not impede fluid access to the sleeping surface of a cot; and
(f) to provide a storage locker that stores articles while both attached to a cot or in transit thereto or therefrom; and
(g) to provide a storage locker that will optionally receive for attachment a variety of prior-art foldable beverage container holders through the use of a variety of prior-art fasteners to include variable depth push fasteners; and
(h) to provide a storage locker that in an alternative embodiment serves as a console to house built-in amenities that include but are not limited to electronic appliances such as a light, a radio, and a clock; and
(i) to provide a storage locker that can be attached to a variety of sleeping cots without the use of tools; and
(j) to provide a storage locker that can be attached to both the side of a cot or the end of a cot.
Further objects and advantages of my locker become apparent upon review of the drawings and ensuing description.